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CONCERT REVIEW: The Hives @ The Electric Factory, 6/20
The U.K.'s most loved modern-day rockers The Hives played The Electric Factory last night, turning a Wednesday night concert with a modest-sized turnout into an all-out interactive experience.
CONCERT REVIEW: The Hives @ The Electric Factory, 6/20
The U.K.'s most loved modern-day rockers The Hives played The Electric Factory last night, turning a Wednesday night concert with a modest-sized turnout into an all-out interactive experience.
Do they have a reputation for putting on some of the best modern rock shows? Yeah! Did they live up to expectations? Yeah! Did they nail their set and have the crowd in rock 'n' roll convulsions? Yeah! (Bit of an inside joke from the show. "Yeah" is probably the Hives' favorite word — and the one they heard back from the crowd for every question asked by frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist. Guess you had to be there ... )
Almqvist's whole stage persona was very much ringleader-esque as he spoke in bold, dramatic boasts, parading from one end of the stage to the next, tipping his top hat, slowly shedding his classic black and white tuxedo.
While the band of Swedish natives never quite had the same amount of success here in the U.S., their latest release Lex Hives has brought attention to some of their early-2000 hits and sparked a revival of enthusiasm for their undeniably catchy punk-rock sound that hasn't much strayed from its roots over the years.
Their presence was powerful — Almqvist's performance is like a blend of the erratic dance style of Joy Division's Ian Curtis and the maniacal antics of a more-energized Jim Morrison.
The stage backdrop certainly helped set the mood, too. A haunting, sepia-toned image of Almqvist as a psycho puppeteer, with finger strings extending off the canvas and onto the stage, was an awesomely creepy setting that was 100 percent appropriate for the band's manipulative stage shenanigans.
Opening with the hilariously repetitive song "Come On" from the latest album, (which literally are the only two words for the entire three minutes of the song), and transitioning into older crowd-pleasers like "Walk Idiot Walk" and "Hate to Say I Told You So," The Hives maintained their energetic, cut-and-dry rock 'n' roll.
(brittany@citypaper.net) (@wannab_thomas)
Photos by Rick Kauffman
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